Draghi’s Real Raise Less Than German Workers in 2013

In inflation-adjusted terms, workers in Germany got a slightly better deal last year than the head of the European Central Bank.

Germany’s statistics office Destatis said Thursday that real wages in Germany, meaning nominal increases minus inflation, declined 0.2% in 2013, due to a drop in bonuses. It was the first time real wages declined on the year since 2009.

ECB data also released Thursday showed that Mario Draghi’s salary last year was EUR378,240, only a 1.1% rise from a year earlier. While no one would claim Mr. Draghi is a poor man, his salary didn’t keep up with the 1.4% inflation rate in the euro zone last year, meaning in real terms his salary actually declined by 0.3%.

Mr. Draghi’s salary increase is in line with the basic increase received by ECB staff, though unlike regular staff he isn’t eligible for a performance-based bonus.

Of course in purely nominal terms, Mr. Draghi is doing far better than the average German. According to the OECD, Germany’s income per person was about $42,000 in 2012, the most recent year for which data are available.

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